Santal Imperial is pure masculine fragrance, a powerful combination of spices and wood, originally made for the Austro-Hungarian Emperor in the 1800's. The fragrance takes its name from its main ingredient—Mysore sandalwood. Mysore is known as the "City of Palaces" in India.

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Santal Imperial Fragrance Reviews

Redbeard

I remembered this being extraordinarily weak from before, and it is in fact so weak that it's difficult to review (unless my vial has gone bad). It's a decent sandalwood, not too medicinal, not too sweet, with more of the scent of just plain wood than a lot of other sandalwood scents give you (maybe they added some cedar?). It's very smooth, and it has some of that tantalizing, semi-perfumey, expensive-smelling Creed base that they use a lot. Unfortunately, later on it gets kind of sweet and sticky, but by this point it's so weak that it could smell like maple syrup and it would still seem light. Some Creeds I'd be willing to pay the price for, but if step one in my decision is just being able to smell the damn thing, then this one is having a hard time getting past that stage. Plus, considering how many other sandalwood scents are on the market, I think it's time for me to move on.

Oct 11 2014

eastcoastguy128

Opens with citrusy almost alcoholic whiff to it.

There is a brief note of something very animalistic and musky. Closest to a real ambergris experience that I have ever had.

Settles down to a majestic traditional perfume with the citrus remaining as a balance.

agree with other reviewers from basenotes:

"It is a sweet sandalwood layered over a super prominent ambergris base"
"whatever is used in Santal Imperial smells very true to the salty, sweet and slightly animalic character of the real stuff."

To my nose, had this sweet sawdusty sandalwood scent without ambergris an hour later. Someone else wrote that the fragrance is very light and dancing in and out of perception. I thought it was gone but when I sat down to eat I was pleasantly surprised by the sandalwood scent coming back.

True masterpiece-very majestic fragrance with quality natural ingredients. This is what made me appreciate Creed in the first place.

Dec 08 2013

rowan.walters

I have a bottle of Santal Imperial manufactured in 2002, and it was only when looking at the box today that I noticed it read "Eau de Toilette".
All my other creed fragrances do not specify a concentration, yet I have always seen them referred to as "eaux de parfum", which I have always doubted - given their poor longevity.
Anyhow, I initially acquired Santal Imperial out of historical curiosity. I wanted to know what Austro-Hungarian Kaiser und König Franz-Josef smelled like. And Nicholas II. There's a kind of tragic glamour surrounding those rulers of fallen empires, and I was curious to know this fragrance that adorned Habsburgs and Romanovs.
The first thing that struck me about Santal Imperial was its relative weakness for an Eau de Toilette. It seems to be more like a cologne than anything else, and opens with a citrus note that is now almost a Creed cliché. This top note is only a fleeting presence however and rapidly gives way to an elegant , slightly musky, classic sandalwood accord, which I presume is sandalwood, tonka bean and ambergris. This latter seems to have a very distinct animalic presence, which I presume must be the ambergris.
Overall it is a very elegant fragrance, but as others have observed, the longevity is very poor which I find surprising given that it was created in an age before anti-perspirant deodorant. I can only imagine that a day with the imperial court in high summer may have started put smelling nice and fresh, but must have been devolved into a rather stinky experience.
An interesting historical curiosity, but in light of rarity and terrible longevity, I would consign it to the past. I no longer bother wearing Santal Imperial out since after 20 minutes it's as though one is not wearing anything at all (fragrance wise). .

Oct 09 2013

Bandit

Whoever expects this to be "santal" (like me), maybe because of the name (?), will be vastly disappointed (like me). Boring Aftershave for the price you'd get really really incredible stuff from other houses.

Another Creed fail.

P.S.: For your sandalwood fix look no further than to the three big ones: Tam Dao, Santal Noble and/or Santal Majuscule.

Aug 09 2013

sandaloud

masterwork. so much better, deeper, more austere and more refined than original santal. creed please don't discontinue this!

Aug 03 2013

sotiriosc

What does this smell like, literally opens with a beautiful "classic" citrus with a background of sandal wood. Then reveals its soft and sensual Tonka bean, really is just a sweetness and lastly your left with a sandalwood ambergris base. Amazing scent. too bad its going to be discontinued.

This is not, to my nose, "pure masculine." It smells a wee bit cloying. Not for me.

Feb 26 2013

sherapop

Creed SANTAL IMPERIAL is certainly not a "pure masculine fragrance"! In fact, when I first applied it, my reaction was that this one was probably marketed to women and/or universal.

The composition is quite simple and likeable, really a quasi-single note presentation of sandalwood which has been lightly tempered with amber. The citrus is very understated, so this does not open aromatically at all, and the tonka bean is also light enough to impart only the slightest sweetness.

I am finding in my journeys through Creed that the older scents--those created centuries ago--tend to be very natural, with high quality components, and SANTAL IMPERIAL is just such a creation. Unfortunately, there seems to be an inverse relation between naturalness and staying power, which makes investing in a bottle problematic, given the cost. I like SANTAL IMPERIAL quite a lot, but while a fine fragrance, it is not to my nose exceptional.

May 11 2010

guest_oslo-fjord

This masterpiece from 1850(!) is the highest level of elegance and good taste! It`s majestic! That a fragrance created so many years ago still works so well, tell us a little aboute this house qualities. This wonderful sandalwood scent is my no.1 formal scent in my collection. I`m so tierd of the new fresh/sport/aqua designer publishing these days so many people are wearing. with this one, I feel that I stand out from rest of the bunch.. As with most of the EDT from Creed, the longevity could be better. Higly recommended!

Apr 18 2010

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Santal Imperial by Creed4.02
out of
5
based on
51 ratings and
9 user reviews

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